Provence Walk

Meet fellow travelers at either the Marseille airport the Avignon TGV station and transfer to our hotel in Arles. Gather this evening for a welcome reception and dinner.

Today explore Arles, beginning in the ancient city center with visits to its Roman theater, amphitheater, Romanesque church and the cloister of St. Trophime. After lunch at our hotel, visit sites at the Alyscamps necropolis and other locales in the town that Vincent van Gogh captured on his canvases. Dinner is on our own this evening.

Walk from a small village up to our dramatic picnic site overlooking the medieval citadel of Les Baux-de- Provence, once home to both warrior lords and Provençal troubadours who sang of love. After lunch, walk along a ridge of the Alpilles hills toward picturesque Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. From here you can continue the walk to our hotel or return by coach.

Today’s shorter walk passes through the garrigue, a typical ground cover in this part of France, of lavender, rosemary and thyme, to a lovely picnic site near the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, a favorite subject of the painter, Paul Cézanne. After our picnic lunch, continue by road to Aix-en-Provence to explore its old center. Those opting for a greater challenge can walk to the peak of 3,300- foot-high Montagne Sainte-Victoire for a brown-bag lunch with magnificent views before continuing to Vauvenargues for a late-afternoon coach transfer back to our hotel.

This morning walk to the sanitarium where Vincent van Gogh spent several difficult, yet prolific, months in 1889–1890. See the small room he occupied and view several sites that are subjects of his paintings. Continue to the Hellenistic and Roman town of Glanum, then walk back to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Our longer afternoon walk follows a trail up to the ridge of the Alpilles and continues along the ridgeline before descending steeply into the village of Romanin.

For our challenging walk, drive to the Durance Valley and hike the southern slopes of the Lubéron massif to the mountain ridge for a picnic lunch. Those choosing the shorter walk begin at the village of Les Borrys and follow scenic paths through the woods to a forestry house for a picnic before continuing on to the village of Mérindol. In the afternoon, transfer our hotel in Joucas, our home for the next three nights and location of a Michelin-starred restaurant where we dine tonight.

Today choose from a variety of self-guided walks, ranging from a gentle four-mile stroll to a strenuous 12-mile hike. Among our destinations are the isolated village of Murs or the charming artists’ colony at Roussillon, situated on distinctively red iron-bearing soil. A packed lunch will be provided for those who wish it. Another alternative is to spend a pleasant day at the hotel’s swimming pool and spa or on its tennis court.

Travel today to the edge of the Vaucluse plateau. A choice of morning walks leads to the magnificent lavender-surrounded Cistercian monastery of Sénanque. More energetic walkers can descend into a hidden valley and then climb up onto a long ridge before descending to the Sénanque Abbey. A gentler option is to visit the hilltop village of Gordes before taking a scenic walk that ends in Sénanque. After a delicious picnic with the entire group, take a tour of the abbey before returning to Joucas.

This morning we drive north to explore the countryside of the southern Côtes du Rhône. From the village of Séguret walk through the foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail to our picnic site. From there opt for the strenuous climb to the lacy limestone peak of the Dentelles de Montmirail or take the shorter walk in order to spend time exploring the little town of Gigondas. Transfer by coach to our lodgings for the next three nights, a fine mansion in Avignon’s old town.

During the 14th-century “Papal Exile,” the popes eschewed their residence in Rome for the city of Avignon, residing in the huge Gothic Pope's Palace. This morning explore the town of Avignon and its palace. After lunch independently, take in more of this quintessential Provençal city alongside the Rhône River, including the Petit Palais, now an excellent art museum, and the famed Pont d’Avignon.

Our joint walk today leads us through the low scrub of the garrigue to the magnificent Pont du Gard, the aqueduct built in the 1st century C.E. by the Romans across the Gardon River to bring water from the nearby mountains to the town of Nîmes. Toast our adventure this evening at a farewell reception and dinner in our hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant.

This morning transfer from our hotel to either the Marseille airport or the Avignon TGV train station for onward travel.